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Lasagna, Lasagne

Layers of noodles, flat or curly, seperated by layers of exquisitely prepared sauces, meat, fish, or vegetables - all building up into one glorious baked edifice.

Wine, Cheese & Olive Pairings

Find out what selections are best suited for each other in this primer to pairing these culinary delights.

Back To The Farm

A new trend in Italy called Spesa a kilometro zero, which literally means “shopping at zero kilometers.”  In the United States, it’s called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

The smallest region in Italy, Valle d'Aosta (the Aosta Valley) is a varied-climate area in the north. It claims borders with both Switzerland and France, as well as its neighboring Italian region of Piedmont. Because of its size and low population, Valle d'Aosta has a capital city - Aosta - but no provinces. Instead, the area is divided into 74 communes, each with its own local government reporting directly to regional authorities.

The Emilia-Romagna region of Italy is considered by many to be the heart of Northern Italian food, from prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano, to an enormous array of freshly made pasta. Since 187 B.C., when Romans built the 125-Mile Roman Road/Via Emilia this thoroughfare has taken travelers throughout the region and connected it with the cosmopolitan cities of Venice, Genoa and central/northern Europe. 

Home to the unparalleled architecture and stunning city design of the regional capital of Venice, Veneto is one of the most interesting regions in Italy. Located in the water-rich Po River Basin, Veneto nestles between the Adriatic Sea and Alpine mountains, and shares a very small portion of its northern border with Austria. Export industries are important in Veneto, with intricate laces and blown Murano glass as respected as the region’s well-known gold indsutry.

The Alpine region of Piedmont is cupped by the countries of France and Switzerland, which both play a hand in the culinary traditions of Piedmont. It shares its Italian borders with Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Valle d'Aosta. Piedmont houses eight provinces - Vercelli, Verbano-Cussio-Ossola, Novara, Biella, Cuneo, Asti, Alessandria, and Torino, in which the regional capital city of Torino sits.

Bordered by Switzerland and Austria to its north, the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige shares its Italian borders with Lombardy and Veneto to the south. Divided into two large autonomous provinces – Trento and Bolzano-Bolzen – Trentino-Alto Adige claims significant portions of the southern Alps.

In the Italian region of Marche, time seems to stand still. Still a largely isolated region, Marche is a wealth of architecture and recipes dating back to Medieval times and beyond. Despite the challenging terrain, the area has been fought over for centuries by invading countries and warring Italian noble families, all seeking to control its central coastline between the Adriatic Sea and the Appenine mountains.

Of all the regions of Italy, Tuscany may be the area most romanticized by Americans. Particularly popular in the Southwest and along the West Coast, subdivisions with homes boasting "traditional Tuscan design" and "rustic Tuscan kitchens" bloom seemingly overnight. The culture of Tuscany runs much deeper, though, than those of the cypress trees lining the front walkways of many a "Tuscan-style" replica.